Irish health system struggling to recover from cyberattack
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Irish health system struggling to recover
from cyberattack
18 May 2021, by Sylvia Hui, Danica Kirka and Frank Bajak
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said the attack
was a "heinous" one that targeted patients and "the
Irish public." The chief clinical officer of Ireland's
Health Service Executive, Colm Henry said the
intrusion was having "a profound impact on our
ability to deliver care" and that disruptions would
undoubtedly "mount in the coming days and
weeks."
More than 2,000 patient-facing IT systems were
affected, and around 80,000 devices were linked to
such systems throughout the health service, Henry
told Irish broadcaster RTE. Authorities are
prioritizing the recovery of systems involved in
patient diagnostics, such as radiology, radiotherapy
A general view of St Luke's Hospital which has been and maternity and newborn services.
affected by a ransomware attack, in Rathgar, Dublin,
Saturday, May 15 2021. Ireland's health system is "That's what our experts are focusing on this week,
struggling to restore computers and treat patients four with external help, to ensure those services are not
days after it shut down its entire information technology reliant on manual exchange of information," he
system in response to a ransomware attack. Authorities
said.
said hundreds of people were assigned to respond to the
attack but it could be weeks before the public health
service will return to normal. The chief clinical officer of Ransomware attacks are typically carried out by
Ireland's public health service said Tuesday, May 18 that criminal hackers who scramble data, paralyzing
the intrusion was having "a profound impact on our victims' networks, and demand a large payment to
ability to deliver care" and that disruptions would decrypt the information. Irish officials say a ransom
undoubtedly "mount in the coming days and weeks." was demanded but they will not pay it.
Credit: Niall Carson/PA via AP
Ireland's health system struggled to restore
computers and treat patients Tuesday, four days
after it shut down its entire information technology
system in response to a ransomware attack.
Thousands of diagnostic appointments, cancer
treatment clinics and surgeries have been
canceled or delayed since Friday's cyberattack.
Authorities said hundreds of people were assigned Screenshot made on Tuesday May 18, 2021 showing
to respond to the attack but it could be weeks part of the ransom negotiation page on the darknet site of
before the public health service will return to Conti, a Russian-speaking ransomware group,
normal. demanding $20 million from Ireland's publicly funded
health care system. Ireland's health system struggled to
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restore computers and treat patients Tuesday, four days
after it shut down its entire information technology system
in response to a ransomware attack by Conti. The gang
had threatened on Monday to "start publishing and selling
your private information very soon," if it did not receive
the money. Credit: Photo via AP
Conti, a Russian-speaking ransomware group, was
demanding $20 million, according to the ransom
negotiation page on its darknet site viewed by The
Associated Press. The gang threatened Monday to
"start publishing and selling your private information
very soon," if it did not receive the money.
A general view of the Naas General Hospital in County
"The government will not be paying any money," Kildare, Dublin, Saturday, May 15 2021. Ireland's health
Justice Minister Heather Humphreys told RTE. "We system is struggling to restore computers and treat
will not be blackmailed." patients four days after it shut down its entire information
technology system in response to a ransomware attack.
Authorities said hundreds of people were assigned to
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine
respond to the attack but it could be weeks before the
urged people not to turn up at hospital emergency
public health service will return to normal. The chief
rooms unless they had a genuinely urgent need. clinical officer of Ireland's public health service said
The association said electronic ordering of blood Tuesday, May 18 that the intrusion was having "a
tests, X-rays and scans was unavailable and profound impact on our ability to deliver care" and that
clinicians had no access to previous X-rays or scan disruptions would undoubtedly "mount in the coming days
results. and weeks." Credit: Niall Carson/PA via AP
Many hospital telephone systems also were not
working because they are carried on computer
networks, it added. The attack has also shut down "This is a very cruel thing to do to vulnerable
the system used to pay health care workers. people,? Cregg told The Associated Press. "We're
fighting every day as it is, and this was just another
Patients have expressed frustration at the attack, curve ball that wasn't needed.?
describing it as another torment thrown into the
already difficult struggle accessing health care Ireland's publicly funded health care system, the
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Service Executive, said in a statement late
Monday that there were "serious concerns about
Eimear Cregg, 38, a primary school teacher who is the implications for patient care arising from the
receiving treatment for breast cancer, had her very limited access to diagnostics, lab services and
radiation therapy briefly postponed while doctors historical patient records."
sought to restore her records so they could treat
her properly. The health service said it was working methodically
to assess and restore its computer systems.
The Ireland attack comes as ransomware gangs
persist in identifying "big game" targets in search of
lucrative payouts and data that can help them
identify new victims—and even determine the
amount of cyber-insurance coverage they carry.
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Operations of four Asian affiliates of the Paris- Ransomware attacks have surged in the past year,
based insurance company AXA were hit in recent though there may be a dip following the worst
days by by ransomware attacks: in Thailand, attack to date on U.S. critical infrastructure. A
Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. The nearly week-long shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline,
attackers claimed to have stolen 3 terabytes of which supplies the east coast with 45% of its
data, including medical records, customer IDs and petroleum products, led U.S. President Joe Biden
privileged communications with hospitals and to vow retaliation.
doctors.
That prompted the moderator of one of the most
The hackers threatened to leak documents within popular darknet criminal forums, XS, to disavow
10 days if AXA does not pay an unspecified ransomware syndicates and to ban them from
ransom. recruiting and conducting other business on the
forum. But experts say it's typical for criminals to lay
low when law enforcement scrutiny gets acute.
Ransomware reached epidemic levels last year as
the criminals, who enjoy safe harbor in former
Soviet states, increasingly turned to "double
extortion," stealing sensitive data before activating
the encryption software that paralyzes
networks—and threatening to dump it online if they
don't get paid.
© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed without permission.
In this Feb. 21, 2019, file photo, people stand in front of
the logo of AXA Group prior to the company's 2018
annual results presentation, in Paris. The Thai affiliate of
Paris-based insurance company AXA said Tuesday, May
18, 2021 it is investigating a ransomware attack by
Russian-speaking cybercriminals that has affected
operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the
Philippines. Credit: AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File
AXA said this month that it would stop writing cyber-
insurance policies in France that reimburse
customers for extortion payments made to
ransomware criminals, saying the practice
encourages more such attacks.
In a new case, ransomware took down IT systems
across five hospitals south of Auckland, New
Zealand, forcing staff to cancel some elective
surgeries preventing doctors from accessing clinical
records, authorities said.
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APA citation: Irish health system struggling to recover from cyberattack (2021, May 18) retrieved 25 May
2021 from https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-irish-health-struggling-recover-cyberattack.html
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